day thirteen - dear Liza,
With all the talk about this project going on around me, it was inevitable that some of the young people in my life would ask what it’s all about.
I wasn’t (and probably still am not) equipped with the skill-set to talk to children about depression. But, when I was directly asked about it, they deserved an honest reply, in language they could understand.
I remembered a book they were familiar with called “Fill a Bucket: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Young Children” by Carol McCloud. In it, she posits that everyone is born with an invisible bucket that holds their good thought and feelings. Some people are “Bucket Fillers”, making those around them feel good, whilst “Bucket Dippers'“ are responsible for taking these good feelings away.
Using this metaphor, I tried to explain that;
“Depression can feel like your bucket has a hole. It may be big or small hole. There may be one big hole, or lots of little ones. If it’s near the top, the bucket can still hold a lot, but if the hole is at the bottom, it all flows out. It may be easy to fix and only be there for a short while, or it may take a lot more work to repair. Sometimes the person doesn’t even know there’s a leak.
It’s so very important for people to be bucket fillers - to try to fill up the bucket faster than it can leak away. Bucket dippers have a worse effect than usual - emptying the bucket much faster, and sometimes making the hole larger. Sometimes, it needs to be you that helps them mend the bucket, because the world is a better place if more people’s invisible buckets work.”
Amazingly to me, it came across quite well and they seem to have a much better understanding of depression, and why I’m constantly kicking around in a kilt.
I strongly believe that it’s imperative to have these kinds of conversations with children, and that we care for their mental health, just like we do with their physical health. Learning to understand depression and anxiety in themselves and others whilst they’re young. is critical to having a generation of happy, compassionate, empathetic, and caring adults in years to come. Ultimately, in many cases, this could go a long way to reduce the rates of mental illness and suicide in the future.
So… as they ask in the book “Have you filled a bucket today?”.
Kilt of the Day - Sport Kilt in Ross Modern Hunring
Link of the Day - "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" read by author Carol McCloud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEg38zCOMgk
Soundtrack of the Day - My Bucket’s got a hole in it - Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis - live at Jazz at Lincon Centre, NY, 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvSBDxE_M1E
Useless information of the day - 13 was my Grandfather’s lucky number. Thanks Shiny.
